Farmers are marching towards Delhi in order to take part in ‘Kisan Gantantra Parade’; Tractors from Punjab, Haryana, and Rajasthan have reached Tikri border
Our Bureau
New Delhi
Nashik farmers affiliated to All India Kisan Sabha and various other farmer organizations started their march towards Mumbai on Sunday. Farmers will gather in Mumbai and then march towards Delhi so as to support the ongoing two-month farmers’ struggle in Delhi on Republic Day. Around 15,000 farmers had already started their statewide vehicle march from Nashik to Mumbai on Saturday.
“The three black laws brought by BJP government are anti-farmers. Our voices should reach from Maharashtra to Mumbai. We will march to Mumbai and then reach Delhi on January 26. Farmers from at least 23 districts like Thane, Nashik, Palghar, and Ahmednagar have joined our march,” said a participant at the march in Nashik.
Farmers from all across the country are marching towards Delhi in order to take part in ‘Kisan Gantantra Parade’ on the occasion of Republic Day. Tractors from Punjab, Haryana, and Rajasthan have reached on Tikri border.
Farmers have been protesting on the different borders of the national capital since November 26 against the three newly enacted farm laws – Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020; the Farmers Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and farm Services Act 2020 and the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020.
The Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM) has asked the farmers to take part in the agitation from January 23 to 26, including rallies to the Governors of states.
Farmers have been protesting on the different borders of the national capital since November 26 against the three newly enacted farm laws – Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Act, 2020; the Farmers Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and farm Services Act 2020 and the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Act, 2020.
But the farmers protesting at the various borders of Delhi have not given anything in writing regarding the route of the proposed tractor rally on January 26, said the Delhi Police on Saturday. “When the protesting farmers would give us in writing about the route of the proposed tractor rally on January 26, we will analyze it and take a decision,” they added. The response came after the farmer unions earlier today announced that they will organize the ‘Kisan Gantantra Parade’ on Republic Day and there has been an agreement on the routes of the proposed parade.
Swaraj India leader Yogendra Yadav, after the talks with the Delhi Police, said, “Farmers will take out ‘Kisan Gantantra Parade’ on January 26. Barricades will be opened and we will enter Delhi.”
Stalemate persisted between the government and farmers after the eleventh round of talks on Friday with Agriculture Minister Narendra Singh Tomer stating that they had urged protesting farmer unions to reconsider the proposal for putting on hold implementation of new farm laws for about 18 months.
The minister told reporters that the talks remained inconclusive. “Dignity was maintained but I feel the interest of farmers was not kept supreme during the dialogue and that’s why a conclusion could not be reached,” he said. Tomar said the farmer unions conveyed during the talks that they had rejected the government’s proposal to put the implementation of new farm laws “on hold” for around one-and-a-half years and insisted on repealing of laws.
Rakesh Tikait, Spokesperson, Bhartiya Kisan Union, said after the meeting that the government offered to put the implementation of the farm laws on hold for two years and said that the next round of meeting can take place only if farmer unions are ready to accept the proposal.
SS Pandher of Kisan Mazdoor Sangharsh Committee said the “minister made us wait for three-and-a-half hours”. “This is an insult to farmers. When he came, he asked us to consider the government’s proposal and said that he is ending the process of meetings. The agitation will continue peacefully,” he said.
Meanwhile, slamming the Bharatiya Janata Party-led central government over the ongoing farmers’ agitation, Congress interim president Sonia Gandhi on Friday said the Centre has shown ‘shocking insensitivity and arrogance’ towards the farmers.
Chairing the Congress Working Committee (CWC) meeting, Gandhi said, “The agitation of farmers continues and the government has shown shocking insensitivity and arrogance going through the charade of consultations.” She emphasized that the three farm laws were prepared in haste and the Parliament was ‘consciously denied’ an opportunity to examine their implications and impacts.
